


Homesick Fantasies

by TheShireCantHandleMe



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams vs. Reality, I will add more tags as we go, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-01-23 13:48:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18551029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShireCantHandleMe/pseuds/TheShireCantHandleMe
Summary: Captain Cold helps Team Flash with a new Meta who has the ability to put people into dreams. What does thief, villain, sometimes reluctant hero Leonard Snart dream of?





	1. Down and Out

This is how all the drama in Leonard Snart's life starts. Sitting in a well-worn booth in Saints and Sinners and the human labradoodle that is the Flash sliding in opposite with his damn puppy eyes and ruining Leonard's peaceful, albeit shitty dinner. He's been chewing silently on his lukewarm fries for a good few minutes pretending to be bored while Barry explains the latest threat they need his help with. He careful analyses Barry's body language. The tense shoulders, the permanent frown, the way he can't seem to sit still. Barry has clearly been on edge for a while now and he understands why. Leonard, like everyone in Central City had seen the news over the past week. An increasing number of people found to be unconscious including an entire bank full where a robbery had also taken place. Some woke within hours or days, others had remained in a persistent coma-state. The hospitals have yet to give a diagnosis other than “coma” but there are no signs of trauma. Currently five people remain in their comas. One person had unfortunately died, the hospital saying his heart was unable to cope with the stress. The rumours circulating that the rest had woken up talking about having been living in a nightmarish version of their lives although the media haven't confirmed this. Leonard knows exactly what nightmare he'd see. He's already lived through the hell of his abuser. He can't imagine going through it again. No one should have to live their worst nightmare.   
  
He realises he's been stuck in his head a bit too long when he glances up to Barry's expectant stare. “Sorry what?” He bites out, not used to being caught off guard with his thoughts. Barry sighs like he's really done with all this bullshit and Leonard isn't sure if he's done with him or the situation.  
  
“We need your help to make a plan to stop them.” Barry states as if it clearly isn't the first time he's said it. ' _It probably wasn't_ ' Leonard's mind supplies.  
  
“Them?” He asks, popping his last fry into his mouth. He doesn't miss how Barry's eyes track the movement of him licking his lip but refuses to read into it.  
  
“As I said...” Barry starts, clearly bored. “I got a look at the last robbery; the Museum of Modern Art. Before they blinked out of existence I clearly saw two people. Cisco is running face rec now on my very sketchy descriptions. We think it's a meta-duo and are _assuming_ that one is putting people to sleep and the other is a teleporter. But I need help confronting them to get more info and formulate and actual plan of attack.”   
  
“And you need me to help you work out their next target on extremely limited information?” Leonard queries.  
  
“Yep... and maybe back up incase I get coma-fied?” Barry adds hopefully.   
  
“What if I do?” Leonard states.  
  
“I promise to drag your ass back to Star Labs for medical testing so hopefully it'll be a tiny nap? Mini nap?... Think of it as a power nap.” Barry jokes spreading his palms up in a mollifying gesture.  
  
“Very reassuring.” He deadpans back at him. He sits back and wipes his hands on his napkin. “Alright lets go.” He states, getting up and startling Barry.  
  
“What.. just like that?”   
  
Leonard arches an eyebrow “Do you want me to change my mind because I can?” He motions back to his seat. Barry bolts out of the booth to stand with him.   
  
“No no, god no.” He says while ushering Leonard to the exit too taken aback to question why he's not getting more resistance. They head to Star Labs to regroup with Team Flash or _'The Nerd Squad_ ' as Leonard calls them in his head. No one bats an eye as Barry and Leonard materialise from a gust of lightening entering the cortex. Leonard takes in the room and notices a distinct lack of paper and the paper that is here is carefully weighed down. The team have clearly gotten tired of cleaning up after a windy speedster. ' _Hehe windy speedster.'_ Leonard's mind files that joke away for later.  
  
“Dude! You're back.. with Snart. Hey Snart.” Cisco states, disgruntled at the appearance of him alongside Barry despite being fully aware that's who he was going to get. Leonard gives him a begrudging nod before turning to the photo up on the screen of what looks to be a perfect, white-picket fence family. He already dislikes them. Barry finally notices the photo too after giving Cisco a pleading look and raises his arms in excitement.  
  
“You found them!” He beams at the photo.  
  
“Meet the Andersons.” Cisco waves at the board pointing at each in turn. “John, Jessica, Jonah and Jane... I kinda wish I was joking about those names but I'm really not.” He sighs dramatically. “The two Barry spotted at the MMA are Jonah and Jane or Down and Out.”   
  
“Really Cisco?” Barry asks.  
  
“What? One knocks 'em down and the other poofs them out of there. Down and Out.” He shrugs in defence of his name. Leonard shrugs when Barry gives him a look of exasperation and wonders when him and the Flash entered a “sharing looks about other people” kind of relationship. He settles back against the console.   
  
“Cisco's pet names aside; what do we actually know?” He asks.  
  
“Basically...” Cisco starts awkwardly “We know nothing. We don't know who has which powers or where there next target will be. All we have are the names and faces.” Leonard rolls his eyes and gives Cisco a dry look.  
  
“Motive?” He queries. As much as people like to just think bad guys are well... bad guys. Very few are honestly doing it because they want to. Most people committing crimes have a reason; necessity, revenge, blackmail. Some like Leonard, started through necessity of survival and it became a way of life that they learned to enjoy because they've known nothing else. Normal no longer being an option for him. Cisco shuffles from foot to foot under his gaze with a sheepish look.  
  
“So... as you can see from this photo it was all happy families. Until the particle accelerator exploded when John here died in a work accident. Turns out the business he'd built from the ground up was actually a big house of cards that came tumbling down with his death, leaving his family with massive debts to pay off. His family until this point having lived a pretty sweet apple pie life. They found themselves penniless and homeless.” Cisco explains, pulling up several other news articles, bills and photos up on the screen. Barry leans towards one photo pointing but before he can speak Cisco interrupts. “Yep. That's Philip Quinten. The first victim and currently the longest coma patient. He's also the business partner of John Anderson but somehow avoided crashing and burning with the rest of the business.”  
  
“Which made him the perfect target for revenge.” Leonard says mentally ticking that off his list of motives. Cisco just nods unhappily while Barry rubs at his forehead frowning.   
“So do we think they are still trying to get revenge on others that wronged the family?” Barry suggests to the room.  
  
“No I think they're trying to rob their way out of debt.” Leonard guesses going through his mental list. _'1.Who to blame? Philip Quinten - Check 2.Desperate for money? Rob a bank - Check. 3. MMA? Family heirlooms?'._ “Did the MMA have any art from the Family that they've lost to debt collectors?”. He questions. Cisco scrambles round to his keyboard typing rapidly for several minutes. Leonard takes the time to look around and by look around he means subtly check Barry's body language. Now that Leonard has agreed to help he seems to have calmed somewhat. Probably feeling the weight shift from his shoulders onto both of their's.  
  
“Okay so the two paintings stolen were bought last year by the Museum from a charity auction.” Cisco says while typing. “But if you look at this photo from Jonah's facebook three years ago we can see one of the paintings in their living room... and wow people need to learn to use privacy filters on Facebook. Particularly if you're gunna go out committing crimes.”. Leonard can't argue with that.   
  
“What else was in the auction and where did it go to?” Leonard asks. He has a niggling feeling in his head of wondering why Team Flash have requested his help with this. It seems fairly straight forward to him and they aren't dumb people.   
  
“We have; several items of very expensive jewellery that were bought by 'Coleman and Sons', a very expensive car to an anonymous buyer, an antique grandfather clock also bought by Coleman. Coleman and Sons bought a few pieces actually.” Cisco says thoughtfully.   
  
“So it looks like Coleman's shop is our possible next target!” Barry says clapping his hands and giving Leonard a dopy grin. “Cisco why don't you monitor from cameras and check if there might be any other targets while me and Snart go over a plan of attack?” He aims the end of his sentence to Leonard who nods. They spend the next hour going over a basic plan as they haven't got much idea how the powers work they need to cover many bases. From the reports they assume that the meta who puts people to sleep has to actually touch the person so avoiding contact in a must. They also assume that they have to be touching each other to teleport together. As they don't know which has which power they agree on a divide and conquer approach. Catch the teleporter first and the other should be easy pickings, having multiple contingency plans is a must but Leonard iterates “Be prepared to throw away the plan.”   
  
At 6:17pm Cisco's monitors catch two people entering the rear of a warehouse owned by Coleman and Son's matching the heights and weight's of Down and Out. Barry zips himself and Leonard out to intercept. The warehouse is large, filled to bursting with wooden crates and boxes of various sizes. Every box containing some expensive antiques from all across the globe. Shipping labels from right here in Central to China to Austria. It stretches far and high with boxes pilled up. It smells like musty old stuff and sea air from the docks nearby. Barry and Leonard stop just outside the warehouse and enter quietly through the same door as the Metas not wanting to alert them with Barry's lightening trail. The lights in the warehouse have been turned on which is a blessing really as the place is full of potentially noisy trip hazards. They quickly move through the boxes at a human pace making as little noise as possible until they can hear the two up ahead. They can hear the mumbled words as they creep closer, trying to maintain the element of surprise.   
  
Leonard and Barry make eye contact and he raises his left hand with three fingers and unholsters his cold gun in his right. Barry watches him silently count down from his peripheral vision.  
  
Three – Barry gets ready to run.  
Two – Leonard powers up his weapon.  
One – Leonard raises from behind his crate and fires directly at pair while Barry takes off running alongside his cold gun blast.  
  
At the sound, Jonah spots lightening coming at him too fast. Knowing he doesn't have time to grab his sister he suddenly pops out of existence and onto a pile of crates nearby and Barry corrects his course to follow him. Jane on the other hand gets clipped by Leonard's cold blast while she dives behind a crate. Leonard hears her groaning in pain as he advances towards her hiding spot. He can see Barry's lightening zipping around the warehouse but can't see Jonah to help on that front so he decides to focus on Jane.  
  
“He's so fast! I can't keep up with his movements Snart. I don't think he needs to be seeing where he's teleporting to.” Barry gasps out over the comms. ' _That's a problem._ ' Leonard thinks.   
  
“If we can get Jane he'll come for her.” Leonard states as he rounds the corner to her hiding spot. In the blink of an eye he spots Jonah appear behind his sister and them both disappear. His immediate hope is that they've decided to cut their loss and run. In another blink he can see Barry's lightening coming towards him. Barry's arm outstretched reaching for him. He vaguely hears Barry's voice in his ear shouting “Leonard move!!” before his vision goes a vivid teal as a glowing hand descends on over his eyes.  
  
“Sweet dreams Captain Cold.” is the last thing he hears as he's pulled into the darkness and his body crumples towards the ground but is caught into the strong arms of the Flash.


	2. Sleeping Beauty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry short chapter - I just wanted to have something out for ya'll. The next chapter will follow Leonard in his dream. 
> 
> I will have the location stated before swapping e.g. "Star Labs" or "Dreamscape" to help people keep track.

Barry arrives in the lab in a flurry of activity. His lightening trail barely stopping as he places Leonard on the gurney in the med bay, attaches various machines and electrodes to him. He's been through tests so often with Caitlin he understands the basic machines to set up. Heart rate monitor, pads for brain scans, he sets up a drip just in case but stops short at putting it into Leonard's arm. He finally comes to a stop by putting Caitlin next to Leonard and standing at the end of the bed.   
  
“Fix him!” He pleads at her.   
  
“What happened?” She asks, getting to work immediately on running her tests.   
  
“He got coma-fied!” Barry sighs running his had down his face. “Jonah was a lot faster than we anticipated, he got to Jane and in a spilt second they were behind Leonard and I was too far away... I couldn't...” Barry crumbles in towards the end of the bed with his palms pushing into his eyes “This is all my fault.”.  
  
“Barry.” Caitlin rests her hand on his shoulder “We'll fix him or he might wake up all on his own in a day or two.” She tries to comfort him.  
  
“What if he doesn't?! What if he's one of the people that gets stuck in a coma.” Barry reasons with his eyes pleading at her “What if he dies like that other guy?”.  
  
“That guy was 85, Barry. He had heart problems before the meta.” Caitlin reassures him “Now let me work and we can make sure Leonard wakes up safe and sound.”. Barry nods numbly and moves out of the room to let her work. He can't help but beat himself up over this. He was the one who suggested they bring Snart in on this. He was the one who is always pushing him to be good. He is the one that was dumb enough to let his little crush on Leonard convince him that is was all such a good idea. He slumps down into a chair and watches Caitlin rush around taking blood samples to test, poking at screens and generally making Leonard comfortable. She doesn't add a catheter, reasoning that if Leonard wakes sooner rather than later he will not be happy to find he'd been given one unnecessarily. He looks to the other side of the room at Cisco working furiously to find more information on the duo responsible. He uses readings and video from Barry's suit to try and formulate a better understanding of their powers. As Barry sits there, watching his friend's work tirelessly he can't help but feel utterly miserable and frankly completely useless. He wants to cry but he can't knowing his friends will wonder why he's so bent out of shape over Leonard Snart of all people. So he sits silently watching, offering his help if can actually do anything right.   
  
Caitlin comes out about an hour later to give her assessment of Leonard's condition. She walks into the main cortex with a grim expression.   
  
“What is it?” Barry asks worriedly.   
  
“Basically... nothing.” She starts. Barry, Cisco and Harry, who had since joined them, give her expectant looks. She sighs and brings up Leonard's brain scan. “I ran a series of basic tests on him. He's in all the normal ranges for someone of his age. He actually fairly healthy. There's some old scar tissue and healed breaks but that is to be expected from his line of work and up-bringing. Although the old skull fracture was a surprise.” She pauses at that when she hears Barry's sharp breath in and she gives him a sympathetic look. “The only test that gives us any indication of anything being wrong is the brain scan. His brain is working overtime. Actually more. It's working at four times the rate it should be. The over activity isn't localised to one area which is consistent with dreaming but he isn't in a state of REM which is when dreams are believed to occur.”.  
  
“So what does that mean?” Barry asks and Caitlin looks lost.  
  
“It means I need to do more research and although he's not at risk of a heart attack anymore than another man his age. If his brain continues with this level of activity for an extended period he could be at risk of brain damage, seizures, maybe even a stroke.” Caitlin states with all the medical professionalism she can muster. “We need to monitor him closely and I will look for more tests I can run.”.  
  
“In the meantime I suggest we focus on trying to find Jane. She might be our only hope to wake any of these people up.” Harry says in his usual gruff tone. They all nod and get back to work.   
  
After several hours and pizzas they are no closer to finding any answers and decide to call it a night. Barry elects himself to stay at the lab and watch over Leonard although Caitlin makes him promise to try and get some sleep. He agrees and settles into the chair next to Leonard with a blanket and a tablet, using the time to speed read through research on dreams and nightmares. After everyone heads off for the night he takes the time to look over Leonard without being watched. He looks peaceful. Laying there silently, not even showing signs of movement under his eyelids like most people do when they dream. He doesn't seem to be in any pain or distress. His usual scowl replaced by a plain expressionless face. He never realised how much Leonard's demeanour aged him until he can see him softly sleeping. Barry leans over and gently picks up Leonard's hand, wrapping both his around it. He strokes the back of his hand softly as he swallows back his desire to cry.  
  
“Please wake up Leonard. You have to wake up.” Barry speaks quietly. He moves a hand up to cup the older man's face. “I'm sorry I brought you in on this. I shouldn't have. It was selfish.” Barry says to him. “Please just wake up.” He begs. Just as he falls silent the thief's fingers twitch against his own causing Barry to look at him sharply. Barry waits with held breath for a long time but nothing else happens. Although Leonard doesn't stir again. He knows not all hope is lost.


	3. Don't wake me if I'm dreaming.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leonard's Dreamscape

* _Leonard's Dreamscape*  
_  
  
“ _Please just wake up_.” Leonard jolts into consciousness as if his leg kicked out in his sleep but he knows that's not what woke him. It was Barry's voice in his head sounding so broken. What has happened to him to make Barry sound like that. The longer he lays there the further away the memory gets. He remembers having lunch at the bar. He remembers going to the warehouse with Barry... He remembers... a blue glow?  
  
“ _Sweet dreams Captain Cold_.” He stares up at the unfamiliar ceiling unblinkingly and he just knows he's not really awake. That meta got him. Which logically means this is his nightmare. He lays as still as possible trying to take in what he can without moving. He can hear the dawn chorus outside. Lots of birds, so he's not in the city. The room smells fresh and clean. The bed he's laying on feels soft and comfortable. The sheets are high quality cotton, possibly Egyptian, he thinks as he runs his fingers over it. He turns his head slightly taking in more of the room on his right. The walls are a pale blue, the furniture is clearly new but high end, expensive, made from real wood. There's a suit hanging up on the wardrobe door that looks too small for him. Deep navy in colour and the tie hanging with it has dinosaurs on it. He looks towards the nightstand and startles. There sits a glass of water and a badge. A CCPD detective's shield. Leonard is stuck staring at that shield when he feels a weight shift beside him. He doesn't turn to look but apparently the other person doesn't care much whether he's awake or not. A soft palm slides across his torso as the person curls themselves around his side. Their chin coming to rest on his shoulder.  
  
“Mmm Mornin'. Can you make pancakes?” comes the mumbled male voice against Leonard's neck. Leonard has a hard time keeping his panic in check but he pushes it down as he gently rests his hand on top of the one laying over heart and turns his eyes to the man next to him. What he sees almost has him bolting out of bed. The look of a sleep-rumpled, bared torso Barry smiling softly at him asking for pancakes is the last thing he expected his nightmare to be. Some of his shock must show on his face because dream Barry beings to frown. “What's wrong babe?” he questions gently. Leonard stares quietly for a bit while he tries to search of an acceptable answer. He finally settles on the easiest lie.  
  
“Bad dream 's all.” he croaks out. His brain struggled to grasp this situation. He decides the best thing is to distance himself so he sits up in bed and slides himself away from the dream Barry. He makes it two steps from the bed before the world tilts dangerously and he has to catch himself on the bed which causes dream Barry to reach for him.   
  
“Leonard? Are you okay?” dream Barry asks worriedly, rubbing his hand down Leonard's arm to steady him. Leonard just shakes his head softly.   
  
“Yeah. Just got up too quickly.” He states to try and ease the worry etched on dream Barry's face. He tries again and makes it to the end of the bed before his vision tunnels and his stomach sloshes. He finds himself staggering quickly to the en suite bathroom and falling to his knees to retch into the toilet. He wonders _'How the fuck did I know this was a bathroom'_ but the thought makes his head swim. He distantly hears footsteps behind him before soft hands come down to rub into his bare shoulders.   
  
“Babe.” He hears dream Barry say softly in his ear while rubbing soft circles into his back which actually he thinks feel incredibly nice. Then his feels a gentle kiss on his neck. “Are you not feeling well? I know you don't like getting sick but if you are you need to rest.” dream Barry says. Leonard can't think of a response when all his thoughts are everywhere at once so he simply groans into the toilet causing it to echo slightly. “Okay so no pancakes.” Dream Barry huffs a laugh and softly rests his head against the top of Leonard's. He rubs his hands down Leonard's back a few more times to make him feel better before standing with determination. “Why don't you get yourself cleaned up and back into bed. I will go make you some toast and a nice soothing peppermint tea. And don't grumble about it. No coffee if you're sick!” he says. Leonard can't see it but he can image the finger wagging at his back. “I will go get Daisy up and you can just rest.”. With that last statement dream Barry kisses the top of his head and rushes out the room. Leonard can hear his footsteps carry down the stairs.   
  
Leonard just stares at the back of the toilet with wide eyes. His brain feeling like its in two places at once. He remembers having that conversation with stressed out Barry Allen, sitting in Saints and Sinners. He can smell the burger and fries. The lingering smell of smoke and stale beer that haunts the bar. He can hear the soft music playing and the indistinct grumbles of alcoholics at noon. He can remember Barry's pinched expression as he explained the meta crisis. He can remember the feeling of lightening and wind when Barry sped them to the Lab. Leonard's world tilts again and feels himself grip the toilet rim harder. He can vividly remember going to the warehouse. The smells of the sea which always reminded him of his grandad and going fishing. He looks down at his arm and can feel the chill of the cold gun when he fired it out at the metas. He gently moves his fingers and he swears he can feel a hand wrapped around his own. _“I'm sorry I brought you in on this. I shouldn't have. It was selfish.”_ He can hear Barry saying in his head. _“Please just wake up.”._ He retches into the toilet again.  
  
He must drift off because the next thing he feels is gently hands pulling him away from the toilet and he groans softly when one rests on his forehead. “Oh sweetie.” dream Barry speaks quietly to him. He allows himself to be dragged off the floor and guided back to the bed. As he slides his legs into the covers it hits him just how real all this feels. The sheets are soft against his bare legs. The light scent of mint tea mixed with toast and butter swirling into his nose as it is passed to him. The bile in the back of his throat. Dream Barry's gentle hands rubbing his arm. He looks down at his hands clutching the mug for dear life hears a clink. That's when if finally notices the ring sitting on his finger and when he looks to the hand on his arm he can see a matching one. “I'm going to get Daisy ready for school and I've got that important meeting with the university board today but I can pop home in between to check on you okay?” Dream Barry says and Leonard looks at him with glazed eyes and nods. Not trusting the words out his mouth. “Are you going to be okay?” he asks.   
  
“Yeah Barry.” Leonard says.   
  
“Daddy?” a small voice asks from the door. Leonard turns to see the small girl clutching the door frame like she's scared to come in. Her little blue eyes etched with concern. Her face framed with bouncy brown curls as she stands there in a matching yellow unicorn pyjama set. _'Her favourite'_ his confused mind supplies. Leonard looks at her and his chest aches with love he didn't think he was capable of. He's knows this is a dream but logic flies out the window at the sight of her because somewhere deep in his gut he knows this is his daughter. Daisy.  
  
“I'm okay petal.” He says on instinct. He's not sure where the nickname comes from but he is suddenly hit with the memory of holding her for the first time in the hospital. _'How can you have a memory in a dream?'_ he wonders.   
  
“Come on baby. We need to get you ready.” dream Barry says heading to usher her out the room. “We don't want Daddy to get you sick too.” He turns back to Leonard. “You call me if you feel any worse! And call work too.”. He leaves the room with Daisy and leaves Leonard to himself. He sits there in bed feeling like death warmed over. He picks up a slice of toast and starts turning it in his hand. He can feel the crumbs between his fingers and hear the crunch when he squeezes the crust. He takes a bite and enjoys the flavour of the slightly salted butter on his tongue. Leonard looks around the room while he slowly eats his breakfast feeling torn. His memories and this place feel as real as each other. If anything his memories feel more like a dream at this moment. He shakes his head, realising how dangerous that thought is. Logically he knows. This is the dream.  
  
But if this is the dream then why does it feel so real?  
  
Most people might think being married with a child sounds like a fantasy not a nightmare but Leonard isn't most people. He never thought he could ever have this life. He never even dreamed of it because it's dangerous to hope for things you can't have. Being married to his arch enemy wasn't even a fantasy he could imagine. Having a child wasn't a luxury he could ever consider.  
  
But if this is a nightmare then he's fucked because right now, at this moment, he doesn't want to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme know what you think! :)

**Author's Note:**

> If you're enjoying it let me know with Comments and Kudos!! Let me know what you like and what you wanna see. :)


End file.
